My Journey

I started becoming conscious with my diet at 21 years old. As I matured and learned more about nutrition, I continued to improve my diet. I’ve always lived by the 90/10 rule. Live well 90% of the time and have fun the other 10%. That philosophy always worked with me and my body.

Prior to giving birth to my second child, my digestion was off and I started to break out with a lot of facial acne. I chopped it up to hormones however after I gave birth, my digestion and acne got much worse. I had never had issues like this in the past. Sure, I would get an occasional stomach cramp after eating one of my “cheat” meals and the occasional hormonal pimple but nothing like what I was experiencing at this time.

I started seeing various doctors; Primary care doctor, Dermatologists, Gastroenterologists and tons of bloodwork and genetic testing however no answers that would explain all of my symptoms. My Dermatologist put me on a high dose of antibiotics and an androgen blocker and soon my skin and hair looked amazing. Two years later, after my Dermatologist shared with me the effects of long term antibiotic use and what it was doing to my long term health, I chose to discontinue use and my acne quickly came back and my hair started falling out. Although this time, I got big cystic acne that left forever scars on my face.

I tried every elimination diet, cleanse, and supplement that I knew of however each one only worked for a short amount of time. This went on for years. Years…

As time went on, my health was declining. I started experiencing joint pain, torso skin rashes, food sensitivities, brain fog, and my immune system was tanking. In one month, I got pneumonia, flu and EBV (mono). How could this be happening? I didn’t know anyone that ate as healthy as I did, I no longer lived by the 90/10 rule. I ate perfect 110% of the time. My health depended on it. I got every unconventional test you could think of and I discovered I had candida, SIBO and gut dysbiosis. But again, I ate perfect and was taking all the right supplements, this did not make sense to me.

Finally, I took a mycotoxin test and my mold levels were very, very elevated. Alarmed, I got my family tested however I was the only one who had elevated mold levels. Then, I found a connection to mold toxicity and breast implants. Did I mention I had become my own private medical investigator and was fervently looking for the source of my declining health?

Who would have ever thought a choice to get breast implants when I was 26 years old would come back to haunt me? My health issues started at 33 years old. When I was 38 years old, I had my implants replaced with textured implants and that’s when my health started to seriously decline. I got my implants taken out (explant) at 43 years old. It took 10 years to discover the source of all of my health issues. I wish I could tell you that all went back to normal right after the surgery but mold is very challenging to detox. After a year, the mold levels were undetectable, yay! Then, it’s on to repairing the rest of the body from the mold. For me, gut health. The acne is naturally gone, no more ebv and I have a strong immune system. I still have to be cautious with my diet. I am hoping over time, I will eventually be able to go back to my 90/10 lifestyle rule.

That was a very painful chapter in my life, I was humiliated by my appearance and at times, I felt defeated. My lack of energy, plummeting self confidence in my appearance and ailing health affected my relationships, my job and my lifestyle. My eternal optimism, relentless research, thirst for knowledge and motivation is what pulled me through it. I had extreme discipline and I never gave up. My health depended on it. My discovery and recovery happened because of me, my commitment and tenacious personality.

Through my journey, I learned and experienced so much. I follow the wellness leaders and learned as much as I could from them and their programs. My experience was long and grueling however it taught me the importance of dissecting health issues to discover the source, advocate for myself and always listen to your “gut”..no pun intended.

Cheers, to a beautiful life!

– Katie